Cycling Project - the Kyle line

My daughter left today for two weeks of hillwalking on the West coast of Scotland. One of the unique features of my children's school is this two week period in May every year when the whole year group in S3, or the 14-15 year olds - all 230 of them - are split into small groups of about a dozen and go off into Scotland's wild places, with 3 or so teachers per group. No bookwork, no science-project-homework-on-the-side. Just physical endeavour, some of it pretty challenging. The prosaic name for this experience is 'S3 Projects'. It's based on the philosophy of the Scottish-born American environmentalist John Muir, who wrote "I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in."
Because I want to stay as close to the progress of the seasons as possible, I'm not going to post her photos when she gets back - I'll do that at the same time next year. Instead, I've got a guest photographer for the next two weeks - my son, who kept a photo record of his Project 3 years ago. This involved cycling a 450 mile circuit from Inverness up the North West coast of Scotland, along the top, and then back down to Inverness. They camped for the most part, with the occasional luxury stay in a Youth Hostel.
So here is a nameless station, on the first day of cycling. It's on the railway line from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh, the mainland terminus for the Isle of Skye. My son can't remember what the station was called, and I can't quite read the sign in the photo below. It could be Achanalt. Anyway, the group hit one of the many quiet times on the line.
(edited to add: Day 1 - Inverness to Contin, 18 miles)

Those passengers waiting on the up line (or is it the down?) get a more robust waiting room.

What We Need

What we need is not new light, but new sight; Not new paths, but new strength to walk in the old ones;Not new duties but new wisdom from on high to fulfillThose that are plain before us.

Out like a lion

Over the past two days March has gone out like a roaring lion. Blizzards have swept Scotland, closing roads, railways and ferry services. Very tragically, a school student was killed in a coach accident at the start of what was to be a recreational Easter trip.
The back of my daughter's hoodie above should really be re-printed as 'We didn't get to Orkney Music Tour ..'. The school baroque orchestra and chamber choir were due to leave on Tuesday evening, travelling north to Inverness by coach, staying the night in Inverness, then travelling on to Scrabster next day and taking the ferry to Kirkwall. The school decided to cancel the trip on Tuesday afternoon as the weather worsened. Huge disappointment - no concerts in Stromness and Kirwall, no sightseeing of Skara Brae, Scapa Flow, the Ring of Brodgar - but it was a wise decision. The road they would have travelled was blocked by snow in several places. The ferries were only just operating, with many services cancelled and no guarantee that they would be able to cross. And even if they did, the sea conditions were atrocious. Seas 'rough to very rough', winds of gale force 8 to severe gale 9.
In the centre of Edinburgh it was easy to have a false sense of security about the conditions. We had wet snow, with the usual city slush.

But the harbour wall was breached at Leith, and just a few miles outside Edinburgh roads were blocked and the main East Coast line blocked by a landslide. Yes, it was a pity the orchestra and choir missed their trip, but it wouldn't have been worth the risk.

More northern lights images!

Here are a few more shots from the incredible auroras that I witnessed in the early morning hours of May 18, .

The Parlor Has a New Look

This spring I started doing some updates in our parlor. The walls used to be green and now they're cream. I like the change, but the walls seem flat to me. I'm going to glaze them soon to give them more depth and some 'oldness'. Hope it works. I also recovered the chair and ottoman in the corner. It did have a large green and rust flowery print but now it's covered in navy pillow ticking. I LOVE it! I love the tabs on the corners. I saw that in a catalog and showed it to my upholsterer, and it's done.
Click on the bottom photo
and you can see the details of the pictures on the wall. The one on the left is a hand-tinted photo of the beach at Fripp Island that I did in oils.
The large one is an oil painting of a Scottish castle. I love it dearly not only because of its subject matter but because it was given to me by a dear friend who has gone on to glory. Her aunt painted it in art school in the early 1900's.
Notice the light fixture in this room is very similar to the one in the library (posted last time). I found them in antique stores while we were building our house. One came from South Carolina and the other from Georgia. They're Art Deco, a style I love for it's stylized motifs and gentle curves.
The map reflected in the mirror hangs over the piano. I'll post sometime about how I aged it before framing and hanging. It was a $7 find at Books-a-Million.
This little corner is a favorite of mine. I'm using more blue and tan in my decorating. I wonder if it's the influence of the beach?


I just noticed that I uploaded two of the same photo. Sorry about that! I tried to take it off but didn't know how.

Goin' Home

Here are some photos of our family land up in Tennessee during the snow on Christmas Day. We waited until the roads were clear and hightailed it up there to play. It was pretty deep as you can tell by my boot prints.
Darcie made uncountable bowls of snow cream. I ate my fair share. Good stuff!
My husband made his first-ever snowman! I'll post pictures of it tomorrow.

Race Across the Sky

Last evening I attending the showing of Race Across the Sky - a movie about the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race. Some 1400 mountain bikers head out from Leadville, Colorado for a 100 mile grueling out and back race, all at over 10,000 ft! The showing was a one night event, held all over the country (?).
Race Across the Sky is a documentary film about the race. If there was a "Star" of the film, it would have to be Lance Armstrong. Before and after the film the feature included panel discussions including Lance, several time winner (and 2nd place finisher) Dave Wiens, 3rd place finisher Matt Shriver, the race promoter, and one more guest (that I did not catch the name).
The best one word description of the film - Awesome. It was inspirational - a woman racer that overcame a crash with a car that almost cost her life. It was heartbreaking with the senior racer that cried because he did not make the 4 hour cut-off at the Twin Lakes check point.
The scenery was beautiful. The aerial shots give a great view of the race venue. The graphic animations shows the race course and gives you a idea where the shots are taken.
Now, while I have never raced other than one at Lake Manawa, I can feel for the riders. They endured the trail, the altitude, rain, sleet, hail, and 100 miles on a mountain bike! Hats off to everyone - if you finished or not, were there as support, worked as a volunteer, or just attended the race.
The schedule at the theater showed the film lasted 195 minutes! No way - just over 1 1/2 hours.
Am I going to ride that race? (That's what some of my friends asked - in jest, I gather) No Way! Now I would like to shoot photos as the racers come up and down Powerline...
A "Must See" film, for mountain bikers, road riders, racers, race fans, or know a cyclist. A treat for a guy like me that knows some of the local racers. Great to see them in the film.
Thanks to Kim West (The Kim West Radio Cycling Show - KXNO, AM 1460) for the promotional tickets.